{"id":7135,"date":"2026-08-18T15:39:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T15:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7135"},"modified":"2026-08-18T15:39:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T15:39:17","slug":"openai-launches-chatgpt-for-teens-promising-a-more-age-appropriate-chatbot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7135","title":{"rendered":"OpenAI launches ChatGPT for Teens, promising a more age-appropriate chatbot"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By BARBARA ORTUTAY, Associated Press<\/p>\n

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) \u2014 OpenAI is launching a version of ChatGPT designed for teenagers \u2014 the first generation to grow up with artificial intelligence \u2014 who are already using it for schoolwork, questions about daily life and even companionship.<\/p>\n

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The San Francisco-based company says ChatGPT for Teens, which launches Tuesday, is tailored for kids aged 13 to 17 with stronger protections including content restrictions around things like suicide, self-harm and romantic or sexual chats. It also provides homework and study support designed to help students learn rather than spit out answers and school essays.<\/p>\n

The idea is to guide teens toward healthy AI use in an age-appropriate environment, the company said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to treat teens like teens, which means that we have to make sure that we\u2019re showing up with the right developmental stage when we\u2019re not either talking down to them or treating them like kids, but we\u2019re also making sure that they\u2019re not exposed to material that they shouldn\u2019t be exposed to,\u201d said Ann O\u2019Leary, vice president of global policy at OpenAI.<\/p>\n

Risks abound in widespread teen usage of AI chatbots<\/h4>\n

Parents, educators and child development experts have been sounding alarms over children\u2019s use of AI chatbots, which have been blamed for facilitating cheating on schoolwork and self-harm. And while even adults can fall victim to anthropomorphizing AI and developing unhealthy relationships with it, teenagers\u2019 brains are not yet fully developed and they can be particularly vulnerable.<\/p>\n

Last year, research from a watchdog group found that ChatGPT would tell 13-year-olds how to get drunk and high, instruct them on how to conceal eating disorders and even compose a heartbreaking suicide letter to their parents if asked. In interactions with researchers posing as vulnerable teens, ChatGPT typically warned against risky activity but went on to deliver startlingly detailed and personalized plans for drug use, calorie-restricted diets or self-injury.<\/p>\n

In the U.S., more than 70% of teens are turning to AI chatbots for companionship and half use AI companions regularly, according to a 2025 study from Common Sense Media, a group that studies and advocates for using digital media sensibly.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said that the company is trying to study \u201cemotional overreliance\u201d on the technology, describing it last year as a \u201creally common thing\u201d with young people.<\/p>\n

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For users of ChatGPT for Teens, the chatbot is prevented from suggesting it has personal feelings toward the user or implying that it is conscious or experiences emotions, according to OpenAI. That\u2019s in addition to blocking romantic or sexual chats.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went through and identified what are the hypothetical cues that a model could give that might make a teenager kind of develop a relationship to it,\u201d said Allison Mishkin, head of child development at OpenAI.<\/p>\n

A new version of the chatbot expands safety protections<\/h4>\n

OpenAI doesn\u2019t verify users\u2019 ages, but it already uses age assurance to estimate if someone is under 18 based on factors such as their types of queries. If someone is identified or identifies themselves as a minor, they are automatically placed into the teen version of the chatbot. This is similar to Meta\u2019s approach to teen accounts on Instagram, which have stricter content, chat and privacy restrictions than regular accounts.<\/p>\n

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To use parental controls, both the teen user and their parent or guardian have to opt in. But O\u2019Leary said the idea with the teen chatbot is to \u201cmake sure that this is safe, even if you don\u2019t use parental controls.\u201d Parents with linked teen accounts can set \u201cquiet hours\u201d when their teen can\u2019t access ChatGPT, and receive safety notifications in limited high-risk situations, such as the possibility of a user hurting themself.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are adding additional notifications related to eating disorders, while limiting what is shared and focusing on moments when offline support may matter most,\u201d OpenAI said.<\/p>\n

For homework help, OpenAI said the teen chatbot is designed not to give easy answers but to guide students to come up with answers on their own. The company already offers a version of ChatGPT for teachers, and tailoring a model to help kids with studying and homework could give OpenAI more ways to bring its product to schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to also invest in expanding interactive learning because research shows that people learn more effectively when they actively engage and struggle with concepts,\u201d Mishkin said.<\/p>\n

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